Electric time switch



May 12, 1925. 1,537,136

' T. J. H. PElRcE ELECTRIC TIME SWITCH Filed Deo. 29. 1'9'21 2sheets-sheet 1 lllllllll- 4/ May 12, 1925.

T. J. H. PEIRCE ELECTRIC TIME SWITCH Filed De. 29. 1921 2 sheets-sneer aEdgewood, city Aliatented May 12, `1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THDMAS J'. H. PEIRCE, 0F CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND.

ELECTRIC TIME SWITCH.

Application led December 29, 1921.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. H. Pnmon, a citizen of the United States,residing at of Cranston, in the county of Providence and State of RhodeIsland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ElectricTime Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in an electric time switch ormeans for determining the time for closing an electric circuit and alsothe duration of vtime that the circuit shall be closed or open; and theobject 'of this invention is to provide simple and effective means whichmay be connected to any clock mechanism by the adjustment of which anelectric circuit may be closed at j any predetermined hour and remainclosed as iong as desired, the device being adapted to he applied to thelighting circuit of an automobile, which may be left on the street, forturning on the lights at a predetermined hour and extinguishing them ata predeterliour, or the device may be used for automatically adjustingthe mechanism of electrically-driven clocks to effect the changesbetween the standard and daylight saving times, or it may be used forany other purpose for which it is adapted.

With these and other objects yin view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described, andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation partly broken away to lillustrate themechanism or my improved attachment as attached to a clock.

Figure 2 is a top sectional view of the mechanism illustrated in' Figurel.

Figure 3 is a front view of the segmentcarrying disc.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4 ofFigure 3, showing the channel-shapedsegment with an extension member therein; also showin the opposite sideof t e disc.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 3 through the securingmember of the segment extension.

Figure 6 is a back view carrying disc, thereon.

Figure 7. is a section on line 7-7 of Figure. 3 through thesegment-carrying disc,

the Contact ring on of the segmentshowing the contact strip slidablymounted .l0

Serial No. 525,631.

lbach of the disc.

Figure 8 is a perspective view illustratin the fixed portion of thecontact segment. g Figure 9 is a sectional side elevation showing thelatch engaging the extendible member of the contact segment.

Figure 10 is a fragmental view of the front wall showing the notchedslot for guiding and retaining the latch handle.

It is found desirable in practice that when an automobile is left uponthe street in the evening, to be of advantage to be able to turn on thelights at the time required by law and in some cases to be able toextinguish the lights at day light in the morning and it is founddesirable to provide means for adjusting the mechanism so that the timefor starting the contact may be varied according to conditions and toalso adjust the mechanism so as to control the duration of contact; andthe following is a detailed description of one means by which theseresults may be accomplished With reference to thedrawings, 10 designatesthe casing of an ordinary'clock to the back of which an auxiliary casing11 may be attached.

'A gear 12 is mounted on a jack-shaft 13 in the c ook-body proper to bedriven at onehalf the speed of the main drive shaft 14 of the clockthrough the pinion 15. @n the outer end of this jack-shaft 13 is mounteda flexible contact arm 16 having a brush or other suitable contact 17 onits end adapted to engage a contact segment, presently described.

In this auxiliary casing in line with the axis of the jack-shaft 13 Ihave mounted a disc of insulating material 18 on the stud 19.

On the front face of this disc I have mounted a channel-shaped segmentalcontact member 20, the edges of this segment eing provided at intervalswith inwardlyprojecting spurs 21 which may be forced through the Vfiberdisc 18 to secure the segment thereto. In the channeled portion of thissegment I have mounted a segmental plate 22 which is adapted to behoused entirely within the channeled member or it may extend to completethe circle if desired,

or it maybe adjusted to any desired interment is provided with a bolt orstem 24 which extends through a slot 25 in the disc and is provided witha spring washer 26 and a nut or other binding member 27 whereby theadjustable segment may be secured in any adjusted position.

On the back of this ber disc 18 l have secured a plain ring 28 which isslotted to permit the passage of the holt 24 therethrough.

To the back of this ber disc ll have secured a pinion 29 by means of theange 30 and this disc may be rotated by hand through the handle 31,shaft 32 and large gear 33.

ln order to determine the exact point to .which the disc should berotated so as to be brought into contact with the contact arm at apredetermined period, l have mounted a pointer 34 on the shaft 32 to berotated over a dial 35, each half of which dial is graduated into twelveparts, one part denoting the twelve hours from 12 oclock a. m. to noonand the other half denoting the afternoon period from one to twelve atnight, so that the time of starting the contact either in the afternoonor in the morning may be accurately determined the gearing having beenarranged so that the contact arm 16 will only make one complete circleduring the twenty-four hour` period while the hour hand of the ordinaryclock makes two complete revolutions in the same time. ln making anelectrical connection to this device l preferably connect one of thewires to the bolt 36 which is grounded on the casing of the clock whilethe other bolt 37 is insulated from the clock 'casing and is providedwith a spring contact 38 which bears against the outer edge of the rearplate or ring 28 carried by the ber disc 18.- ln operating the device lset the pointer 34 to the hour at which it is desired the contact shallbe made to complete the electric circuit. The rotating of this pointeralso rotates the disc through the gears 33 and 29 to set the edge 39 ofthe contact segment in position to be engaged by the clockdlivencontact-arm 16 at the time desired.

lf it is desired that the duration of the contact shall be only twelvehours then1 the extension segment 22 will be pushed away hack to the end40 of the xed segment so that as the arm 16 is driven around by theclock mechanism it will run of from the contact segment onto the berdisc after twelve hours. lf,vhowever, it is desired to extend thecontactV period for twenty-four hours it is onlynecessary to draw outthe segment extension member 22 to complete the ull circuit or it may beset to complete any desired portion of the circle. Before doing this,however, the binding nut 27 is, of course,`loosened which isaccomplished by rotating the disc to a point clear of gear mariee periodor duration of electrical contact. To

accomplish this in a simple and eifective way l have provided anextending nger 43 on the end of the extendible portion 22 of the segmentand l have pivoted a latch 44 at 45 on the bearing 46 which latch isprovided with a handle 47 adapted to extend forward through the irontwall 35 of the clock mounting, or in any desired operative position, andthis latch is normally pressed into engaging position by means of aspring 48 and when it is 'desired to remove the latch from operativeposition it is only necessary to press the handle 47 downwardly andcause the same to engage a notch 49 see lligure 10, in the front wall tohold the latch out of engagement and against pressure of its. operatingspring 48. By this construction it will be seen that when the latch isin operative position it engages the end 43 on the segmentl 22 so thatwhen the ber disc 18 which carries the hollow section 20 of the segmentis rotated in one direction through the setting heb 31 and gears 33 and29, the member 22 of this segment is extended a distance to correspondto the setting movement of the pointer and when the setting knob isrotated in the opposite direction the segment member 22 is rehouse'd inthe member 20. l

By this arrangement the extendible portion 22 of 'the segment issupposed to be completely housed when the pointer 34 is at 12 oclockmidnight by the setting dial and in order that this portion shall bedrawn out to extend the period of contact with the rotation of thepointer, l move the segmentcontrolling latch 47 into operative position,and then by moving the pointer to the right to any designating hour, sayfor instance, 4 a. m., the rotating of this pointer simultaneouslyrotates the disc 18 through gears 29 and 33 with its housin 20 towithdraw the exten 'ble portion 22 a corresponding distance, so that thecontact brush 17 will have reached the end of the contact segment at themriod set.

Circuit wires 41 will be provided with a switch 42 whereby the circuitmay be broken at the will ofthe operator independently of the clockmechanism, when desired.

The device is extremely simple and practical in construction andeiiective in its operation and by its use the time at which the circuitmay be completed, may he readily determined and the duration of thecircuit may also be readily controlled.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the constructionillustrated,

contact member izo but I desire it to be understood that I reserve theprivilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the deviceis susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by theterms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an electric time switch, the combination with a motor, of arotatable contact segment, a flexiblecontact arm driven by said motorand in engagement with said segment, and means including a graduateddial -and set of gears byA which said segment may be rotated and sopositioned to contact with said arm at a predetermined time to close theelectric circuit.

2. In an electric time switch the combination with a clock mechanism, ofa rotatable motor to contact with said segments, said arm and segmentsbeing in an electric circuit.

3. In an electric time switch the combination with a motor, of a contactsegment, a. contact member in engagement with said segment and driven bysaid motor, and means for adjusting the Working length of said segmentby rotating said disc to determine the duration of time that the circuitshall' be closed.

4. In an electric time switch the combination with a motor, of arotatable but normally stationary 'disc of insulating material, asegmental contact member carried by said disc, an adjustable contact armmounted to engage said segment and be rotated by said motor, and meansfor adjusting the working length of said segment through a rotation ofsaid disc.

ture.

THOMAS J. H. PEIRCE.

